End of an Era at Marineland

The sign in the parking lot of Marineland in 2017

This week it was announced by Marineland in Antibes, France,  that Flocke and her triplets had already moved to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and the polar bear habitat on the French Riviera would become home to penguins. The French aqua park would no longer have polar bears. Marineland had been closed for a time because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and was announcing that it would reopen to the public on June 11.

Marineland was home to polar bears for 11 years, from April of 2010 to June of 2021.

In the old days, at Marineland, Flocke rests on top of the stone arch,
 while Raspi waits for her to come down. Raspi always wanted to be with Flocke. Flocke sometimes wanted a break.

Marineland had been closed in the spring of 2020, but did reopen for a time in the summer and fall, then closed again. 

Flocke and Raspi together in 2018, after daughter Hope left for Sweden

The rare birth of polar bear triplets made it even sadder that the park was closed for so many months, but some European visitors were lucky enough to see the cubs. I, being in Ohio, missed that experience, but my friend Ralph from Oxford, England, went for a week in August of 2020, when the cubs were still rather small.

My friend Ralph traveled to France to visit Flocke and her cubs,
and gave me permission to use this photo of the little family.
 Raspi had already moved to YWP

The triplets' father, Raspi, had moved to Yorkshire Wildlife Park shortly after the cubs were born, so Flocke could raise the kids in peace and quiet. For ten months, Raspi lived in YWP, separated and at a distance from the other four bachelor polar bears, from the end of January to mid November 2020, at which time he moved to Tallinn, Estonia as a companion to female bear Friida.

At Marineland in 2018, Flocke swims and Raspi waits for her.

Flocke was born to Vera and Felix in Tierpark Nuremburg in 2007, where she was raised by four keepers. Rasputin, or Raspi, born in Moscow to Murma and Untai, came to Nuremburg when he was 11 months old, about the same age as Flocke, as a companion for Flocke and they grew up together. In 2010, they moved to Marineland, the first and only polar bears to live in this aquatic theme park in Antibes on the French Riviera. 

Flocke with Hope, who was born in 2014 in Marineland

There in Marineland, Flocke and Raspi enjoyed three spacious enclosures. The top two enclosures feature large pools, rocky areas and grass, while the lower enclosure was built for mother and cubs, with a shallow pool, babbling brook, and a grassy meadow, as well as a snow cave. There is also a snow cave in one of the top areas. The bears could enjoy cooling breezes from the Mediterranean Sea, just  down the hill, or if they prefer, the air conditioning inside.  The keepers have taken wonderful care of the bears. 

Raspi and Flocke's first cub Hope was born in 2014.

Little Hope in Spring of 2015

Hope and Flocke in the ice grotto.

It is a shame that this state of the art facility for polar bears is now empty, but it will still be of use, for the Marineland penguins. 

Flocke and her tree at Marineland

So why did Marineland decide to send the polar bears away? Animal rights organizations have been protesting the park, marching around near the entrance with signs, mostly about the Orcas, but others have criticized them for keeping polar bears in a Mediterranean climate, even though the temperature there right on the edge of the sea is not much different than in other European cities that keep polar bears. A British tabloid did a slanted story about the polar bears at Marineland, full of inaccuracies and intended to rile people up. The people who own the park decided to pick their battles, I suppose.

Raspi, behind the gate, could come down and visit his
daughter Hope in the lower enclosure.

Hope is entranced with a visitor on stilts.
The Marineland bears loved to see who was coming to visit.

After Raspi left YWP for Tallinn, the remote enclosure where he lived at YWP, with rolling grassy meadow, climbing structure, foliage and a lovely pond in which to swim, was empty. It seemed to make sense for Flocke, along with her 18 month old cubs, to make the move to the UK. 

The entrance to Project Polar at YWP
where the bachelor group of four young males lives.
Flocke's home is across the park.

So now there are eight polar bears at YWP. Flocke and her cubs are some distance from Project Polar, where the young boy bears (Nobby, Hamish, Sisu and Luka) live, rotating through three spacious enclosures, each with a big pond. Polar bears have very sensitive noses, so the boys might smell a female, but it would be faint, not dissimilar to Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland, where Victoria lives alone, on the other side of the park from Arktos and Walker except during breeding season.

There will be a settling in period, where Flocke's family will have time to adjust to their new home without visitors watching them.

I visited Marineland many times, always staying for four or five days at a time, at the Bastide de la Brague across the road from Marineland.  The bears had much to keep them busy, with toys and other enrichment. Raspi always liked to swim his laps, unless he could be with his Flocke.

Raspi swimming his laps at Marineland

Flocke and Hope, swimming and playing

Flocke, who had been raised by humans, amazed everyone with her great mothering skills with daughter Hope, and is doing a great job of raising triplets.

So, after the initial period without the public, the folks at YWP will have fun getting to know Flocke and her cubs, the boys Yuma and Indiana, and daughter Tala, also called Rasputina by some because she is so like her father.

Flocke was all dirty, and Raspi didn't care. He always thought she was beautiful.

I will miss my beautiful days on the French Riviera, and all the lovely people I have met there. It was an idyllic place for polar bears to live and play. I am sad that those magical days are over. 

Anori and Luka part ways

Luka and Anori in Wuppertal 

It has been a busy week for nine year old Luka. 

Tuesday was Luka's birthday at Zoo Wuppertal in Germany, where he has lived with Anori for seven years.

On Wednesday, he climbed into his transport box, which had been put into his area a couple of weeks ago so he could get used to it.

Welcome to Project Polar at YWP 

Today, Luka finds himself in Yorkshire Wildlife Park across the English Channel, able to see and sniff his new companions, 7 year old Nobby and 3 year old Wee Hamish, separated by some small space and some bars. 

After a few days, when he adjusts to his roomy and grassy new environment, Luka will be introduced to the other two male bears. Hamish is a new arrival too, just come from Highlands Wildlife Park in Scotland a month ago. Hamish and Nobby already seem to be fast friends.

The meadows at YWP may still smell faintly of Pixel and Nissan, two other male bears who recently left for France. Luka's father Victor lived at YWP for many years, before his recent death. 

 

Luka and Anori getting friendly 

Luka and Anori

Luka and Anori on the stairs steps in Wuppertal. 

Luka and his twin sister Lynn were born December 1, 2011 in Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen in the Netherlands. Their parents were wildborn Huggies and Victor, son of Churchill and Vienna.

Luka in the water

Anori on the steps

Anori was born in Wuppertal very late in that same polar bear birthday season, on January 4, 2012. Her parents were Victor's sister Vilma, and Lars, father of the famous Knut.

Luka in the underwater viewing area at Wuppertal 

Anori in front, Luka in back, in the Mother Child area

When Anori and Luka were nearing the age of two, Anori's mother Vilma moved back to Rostock, where Lars then lived. Young Anori needed a playmate, so Luka came from Ouwehands. The two of them grew up together.

Anori and Luka in the main enclosure, heading toward the diving platform

Ready to dive

Luka in the Mother Child area 

So for the past seven years, Anori and Luka have been playing, splashing, running and swimming together 

Luka grabs the crazy egg

Anori and Luka in the mother child area 

Luka on the platform, and there is a viewing area behind him

Luka and Anori with their toys

The polar bear enclosure at Wuppertal was built about a century ago, and at the time it was very forward thinking. A hundred years ago, most zoos kept polar bears in cages. Wuppertal was one of the first to embrace the revolutionary idea of  Hagenbeck's habitats without bars, where the animals can move about freely and naturally. The stylized enclosure was built of slabs of silvery white granite, featuring a large pool, stairs and diving platform. 

Luka on the bottom step

Luka and Anori in the pool 

While Wuppertal's ancient enclosure cannot compare to the new state of the art facilities of some of the other zoos, I have rarely seen happier bears than at Wuppertal. Innovative toys and puzzles give them lots to do and think about, and the keepers are always looking for new ideas for activities and enrichment. 

Luka and Anori always had lots of different toys, and they get creative

About ten years ago a cozy mother child enclosure was built onto the back of the living quarters, a sheltered area of soft surfaces and a shallow pool area in front of the viewing window. Anori is the only cub to have been raised there. Anori and Luka would swim in the big pool area and then run through the building and out the back to sleep or play or have a snack in the little garden, then back and forth again. All day long. 

Luka with his ring

Of course Anori and Luka have had each other too, and they became compatible friends, very good at sharing.

Luka

It is customary for keepers to go along for the trip and stay until the bear has adjusted to new people and environment. 

Luka and Anori, follow the leader

Facebook photos today show that Luka has arrived at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and already explored one of the grassy areas on his own. 

Luka says goodbye to Wuppertal 

He will find a very different kind of home at YWP, with four large bear enclosures with natural ponds, rolling grassy meadows and stone shelters. It is all very spacious and natural. There are even ducks and other birds to chase.

Anori with her toys

And where is Anori going? I thought maybe Rotterdam, which has two large enclosures, one for Olinka and one for Wolodja. There is probably room for one more. Karlsruhe has had three bears before. Maybe she could go there? We will just have to wait and see. Her birthday is coming up in a month. Will she celebrate again in Wuppertal, or be in her new home by then?

Happy Mother's Day to Flocke

Flocke and her first cub Hope, who was born November 26, 2014.

It made worldwide news. Flocke had given birth to triplets, and four months later, they are still doing great! 

Flocke and her newborn cubs, photo courtesy of Marineland

All in all, the end of 2019  was an amazing polar bear birthing season, with a dozen cubs born in Europe, and several in Russia. Even the U.S.A had a cub (in Columbus again, of course). The remarkable story, however, was Flocke and Raspi's little family. Everyone would want to come to the French Riviera to meet them.

Cruel fate, in the shape of a worldwide pandemic, has intervened, and Marineland is closed through at least the end of June. I was to have visited during the first week of May, taking lots of photos of this little family, followed by another trip to see the rest of the cubs. Instead, I must be satisfied to see photos and videos posted by Marineland, and hope for a visit maybe next spring?

One European cub did make her public debut before the lockdown. Fans could visit little Finja in Tiergarten Schoenbrunn in Vienna in late February.

Just recently a few of the other cubs could be met, although there are great restrictions in those zoos. Fans can visit Milana and Sprinter's daughter in Hannover, and the twins Anna and Elsa in Zoo am Meer in Bremerhaven are now receiving visitors along with their parents Valeska and Lloyd. 

Flocke and her babies, photo by Marineland

But Flocke and her triplets remain isolated from visitors, except for those who work in the park and for a recent photo op for the press, a very limited event.

Photo by Valery HACHE/AFP

Triplets who survive are quite rare in zoo polar bears, although not all that rare in Flocke's family.

A triplet birth at the Louisville Zoo in late 1992 gave us Aquila, Aurora and Arcturus, but all three are gone now.

The Louisville Triplets, Aquila, Aurora and Arcturus.
Photo courtesy of the Louisville Zoo

Skeena with her triplets in 1993 in the Louisville Zoo.
Photo courtesy of the Louisville Zoo

Flocke's great grandmother Uslada's gave birth to all male triplets in St. Petersburg in 2002, with Bering, Malygin in China and Sedov (Commodore) in a Russian safari park now. 

Victor and Huggies had triplets (Ewa, Henk and Jelle) in Ouwehands in 2005, named for their keepers. Ewa is in Sweden with Flocke's daughter Hope and also Wilbar. Henk is in Nuenen in the Netherlands and has fathered two sets of twins. Jelle is in Quebec and has fathered two cubs.

Flocke's grandmother Simona had triplets in Moscow in 2011 (Wolodja, Zefirka and a sister who has died). Wolodja is again a new father this year in the Netherlands, and Zefirka in the Ukraine has had cubs too.

I have heard of a case a long time ago where a wild polar bear with quadruplets was seen in Russia. Even triplets in a zoo come along about once or maybe twice in a decade.

Huggies, mother of triplets Henk, Ewa and Jelle.
I took this photo in 2017, more of a grandmother now.

When Huggies' daughter Freedom gave birth to Akiak and Sura in 2014, they started out as triplets, but one of the cubs did not survive.

Malik of the Aalborg Zoo has given birth to four sets of triplets over the years, but there were early losses each time. Her first cubs were all three gone in just a few days. Her second set of triplets soon became just one cub: Augo.

On November 26, 2016, Malik again had three cubs, but only Qilak and Nuka lived. Her new set of twins, still with no names, started out as triplets, but one expired after a day. Aalborg Zoo has dencam, so we watch the drama playing out, with great disappointment but it isn't surprising since polar bear cubs have such a low survival rate, maybe only about fifty percent in zoos and in the wild. 

I am sure there may be many other examples of triplets being born, but we often don't hear about those who only live a day or two.

Flocke's story

There were those who said that Flocke would never grow up to be a proper bear, having been raised by keepers. They said she wouldn't know what to do with a cub. How could she be a good polar bear mother when she was raised by humans? 

Flocke in her ice cave with Hope in 2015

In fact, Flocke is the best mom. She was a good mother to Hope for three years, and never seemed to get impatient. And now she is mother to three young rascals, two boys and a girl. 

Flocke nursing little Hope in 2015

Flocke and Raspi in Marineland

Flocke was born in Nuremberg Germany to Vera and Felix in late 2007, and when her mother Vera, a very young mother at only 4 years old, kept dropping the cub, the zoo director to have keepers raise Flocke by hand.

Flocke needed a playmate, so when she was about a year old, a male cub of the same age arrived from Moscow. Flocke and Rasputin each had someone to play with. Right from the start, Flocke, although smaller, was the boss. The two cubs got along very well.

When Flocke and Raspi were a little over two years old, they moved to a brand new state of the art habitat at Marineland on the French Riviera, right on the Mediterranean with those lovely sea breezes. They had ice caves to keep cool, two large diving pools, and three spacious enclosures on two levels.

Flocke gave birth to Hope five years ago, and Raspi was separated from his beloved Flocke for three years, while Flocke took great care of their daughter. It was difficult for Raspi to be so near Flocke, and yet separated. He could interact with Flocke and Hope through peepholes between the two upper enclosures at water level in the pools, and sometimes through the bars between one of the upper enclosures and the lower mother-child area.

Hope, at the age of three, went to Sweden two years ago, and the two adult bears were reunited! Raspi was very happy, but they still had to be separated on occasion so that Flocke could have a break from being so passionately pursued.

All their romantic activity has resulted in triplets, just announced by Marineland. It was also announced that Raspi had moved.

 Flocke gave birth to her triplets at the end of December, and now Raspi, or Rasputin, has gone to a polar bear bachelor camp in England, so Flocke can have peace and quiet to raise the children. Raspi will be distracted by his new surroundings and new friends, away from all female bears, so he won't get frustrated during spring breeding season.

At Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Raspi will be separated from the other bears for four months, living in a spacious area previously occupied by Japanese brown bears, who have since passed away. He has a grassy meadow and a lovely pond in which to swim. By all reports, Raspi has hit the ground running, and has settled in nicely, having a great time exploring his new estate. He looks happy.

The other polar bear occupants at YWP, a recently built zoo constructed on an old farm, are patriarch Victor, himself father of triplets and many other cubs: younger male bears Nissan from Russia, Nobby from Munich, and Victor's grandson Pixel from the Netherlands. Pixel is the son of one of Victor's triplets, Henk.

Project Polar, as the polar bear area is called, consists of three huge grassy meadows with ponds and caves and rolling hills. YWP plans to develop a fourth enclosure next to the central holding area. Raspi is in another spacious area for his quarantine.

Thus the male bears can be separated, or put together for good company as their moods dictate. By and large, Pixel and Nissan are best friends and usually together. Young Nobby makes do with the company of older bear Victor. Nobby would love to play with Pixel, but Nissan can be jealous. Thus it might be nice for Nobby to have a playmate in Raspi when quarantine is over.

In the meantime, back at Marineland, Flocke can have lots of space to raise her cubs.

There is talk about Marineland giving up polar bears in a few years, but with 12 cubs born this past season, and the superior conditions of the Marineland plant, Europe will need all the polar bear homes currently occupied, and more

I wonder if Flocke might come to YWP, and the three younger males at YWP be sent to other zoos, for there will be young females needing mates. The triplets could remain at Marineland for a few years.

Flocke and Raspi, together in happy days at Marineland

I hope I get to visit Flocke's triplets before they are all grown up. Right now, the earliest I think it would be possible is next spring. 

So for today, I wish a happy Mother's Day four generations of great polar bear mothers: to Flocke, to her mother Vera, to Vera's mom Simona, and to Simona's mother in St. Petersburg Russia, Uslada.

Happy Mother's Day to the new polar bear mothers taking care of new cubs this year in Europe and the USA: Aurora in Columbus Ohio; Flocke in Antibes France; Milana in Hannover Germany; Valeska in Bremerhaven Germany; Freedom in Ouwehands Zoo the Netherlands; Malik in Aalborg Denmark; Noel in Copenhagen; and Nora in Vienna.

And a Happy Mother's Day to all the polar bear mothers who have ever raised a cub. It can't be easy taking care of those active hungry adorable little cubbies.